And just like that…. it’s June!
The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of seeding, planting, weeding, irrigating, building, repairing, harvesting and… the list goes on. May Madness. It happens every year and kicks us into shape for the season ahead. Here’s a quick recap of what we have been up to.
We planted the first round of field brassicas (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and kale) a couple weeks ago, and plan to plant the second succession later today. Getting the first round planted was a late day push on a hot Friday afternoon, but our crew here rallied and stayed a little late to make it happen.
On that note… quick shoutout to our stellar Farm Crew! Emily has returned for a second season (wahoo!) and Abby Fox, a good friend whom I farmed with 10 years ago, joined the team in May. We are blown away by how awesome these two are - they show up with smiles, all the sarcasm and dedication to this work day after day. Be sure to give them a big THANK YOU at CSA Pickups because they’re helping us with everything here (seeding, planting, harvesting, wash/pack, and of course weeding, so much weeding) and we couldn’t do it without them.
Earlier the month we planted the potato field! Potatoes are fast and pretty fun to plant - Mike preps the field and marks trenches with the tractor. We fill buckets with Colorado grown seed potatoes from Rockey Farms, and drop them about 12” apart in the trenches. Then Mike covers them with the tractor, irrigates and we wait for them to make an appearance. They’re up, and ready for their first weeding later this week.
We also dug up onion starts in one of our moveable tunnels and transplanted them outside. This takes 2-3 days and is always exciting to check off the list. The onion beds are looking great and Mike did the first pass with our basket weeder last weekend. I’m in LOVE with this basket weeder and these freshly cultivated onion beds.
The high tunnel is about to burst at the seams. The early planted kale, chard and scallions are looking great! We set up trellis for the snow peas a few days ago and I’m excited about the trial bed of scarlet runner beans we have growing in this house.
We built a couple more caterpillar tunnels (which may have involved a little grumbling) to make way for more cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes to accommodate our larger CSA Membership this season. These houses are all planted (wahoo!) and will be ready for their first weeding soon.
The last big planting push is happening this week. We are seeding the fall carrots, beets, turnips and rutabaga later today. Followed by the winter squash, beans and zucchini on Thursday morning.
We are ready to switch gears and kick off the harvest season this week. CSA Members, I hope you’re all ready for spring greens, herbs and roots, because they’re growing beautifully and will be coming your way in abundance this week! Be sure to check your email, as we have sent out details on the various pickup locations/times.
Last but not least… we are having PLANT SALE. You can order starts for your garden in our online farm store for Pickup at the Farm in Mancos on Saturday, June 6th. Order online here:
Ok… that’s all for now. I need to get a move on!
Have a beautiful day.